1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate to presenting users with an immersive virtual environment. More specifically, embodiments of the invention allow users of the virtual environment to determine where to use and acquire inventory objects as well as notify users of useful inventory items when an avatar is at a particular location within the virtual environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
A virtual world is a simulated environment in which users may inhabit and interact with one another via avatars. Users may also interact with virtual objects and locations of the virtual world. An avatar generally provides a graphical representation of an individual within the virtual world environment. Avatars are usually presented to other users as two or three-dimensional graphical representations that resembles a human individual. Frequently, virtual worlds allow multiple users to enter the virtual environment and interact with one another. Virtual worlds are said to provide an immersive environment, as they typically appear similar to the real world and objects tend to follow rules related to gravity, topography, locomotion, physics and kinematics. Of course, virtual worlds can suspend or alter these rules as well as provide other imaginative or fanciful environments. Users typically communicate with one another through their avatars using text messages sent between avatars, real-time voice communication, gestures displayed by avatars, symbols visible in the virtual world, and the like.
Virtual worlds may be persistent. A persistent world provides an immersive environment (e.g., a fantasy setting used as a setting for a role-playing game, or a virtual world complete with land, buildings, towns, and economies) that is generally always available, and world events happen continually, regardless of the presence of a given avatar. Thus, unlike more conventional online games or multi-user environments, the virtual world continues to exist, and plot and events continue to occur as users enter (and exit) the virtual world.
Within the virtual environment, avatars may have the ability to carry objects used to interact with elements of the virtual world. Depending on the particular environment (or location within an environment) different objects in an avatar's inventory may have a variety of uses at various locations. Moreover, certain objects may be more useful than others, depending upon the location of the avatar in the virtual world. Furthermore, an avatar may need to obtain an object from one location in the virtual world before using it at another location. For example, some virtual environments have matured to the point where economies have developed and goods may be bought and sold using virtual money. In such a case, a user might purchase virtual items at one location (e.g., virtual fishing equipment or camping gear) for use at different locations of the virtual world (e.g., a virtual lake). As another example, a user might enroll in classes offered by a virtual school and need to acquire certain virtual objects to participate in a given course.